Ariel's Sacrifice
by thugzangelz
Summary: When Lydia was a little girl she loved reading with her Grandma. Her favourite books were all the classic fairytales. If only Lydia had realised when she was so young, just how similar her life would turn out to her favourite book.


**A/N I'm still looking for a beta-reader if anyone is interested. Mostly for punctuation, spelling and grammar. I read over my works before putting them up but I still miss things. Message me if you are interested.**

Lydia walked down the isle to the beautiful wedding music in a daze. It was almost as if she had entered into another fugue state when she was looking for dead bodies. She could barely concentrate or think about anything other than the beautiful man standing at the end of the aisle. Stiles... Who knew that after so many years of him secretly crushing on her, she would eventually fall in love with him? Ever since he was in 3rd grade, he had dreamed of the day she would tell him she loved him. Or at least admitted that he was finally on her radar. At twenty, Lydia was old enough and wise enough to admit to herself that he was the man she loved. She could imagine herself in a small house, with one or two children. She would be practicing law, prosecuting criminals and he would be the detective, putting the case together, gathering clues and evidence to strengthen her trial.

Somehow it seemed after all these years that they could be the perfect couple. They could have strength where the other was weak. They could make each other better as people. And most importantly, they could love each other unconditionally, no matter their faults. Lord knew Lydia had a lot of them. And Stiles was the type of man who could look past all that and see the good in someone. Under his sarcastic exterior was a gentle, kindhearted, idealistic man. He always looked for the best in people and between him and Scott, they somehow managed to always bring it out to the forefront. He was everything Lydia never knew she wanted and needed in a man.

When Lydia was a little girl she loved reading with her Grandma. Her favourite books were all the classic fairy tales. She loved how the authors created magical lands with realistic characters. People who acted and reacted as she believed they would in real life. No one was perfect and without fault, everyone had a dark side. Her favourite of all the books was The Little Mermaid. She had always envisioned herself as the mermaid. After seeing Disney's animated adaptation of the book, Ariel with her long, beautiful red hair, she couldn't help but believe the character was created in her own image. Or maybe that Lydia herself was created in the image of the lovely Ariel. For such a long time, she would refuse to answer to anything other than Ariel. The movie was completely different to the book, more child-friendly. Lydia preferred the book with all it's hardships and sacrifice. After all, life is not perfect. However, the movie gave a face and name to the character that Lydia could truly relate to and adore.

If only Lydia had realised when she was so young, just how similar her life would turn out to her favourite book. It was as if the book foreshadowed every sacrifice and every hardship Lydia would have to face, and all before she had even turned 20.

Lydia smiled to herself sadly as she finally made it to the end of the aisle. She paused momentarily to smile at Stiles and mutter congratulations before stepping off to the side, next to the other bridesmaid, Kira. She turned to face the audience as Malia appeared at the end of the aisle, beautiful in white.

Lydia was barely seventeen when she first realised she was falling in love with Stiles. He had been possessed but the Nogitsune and no one was sure if he would survive through the process of destroying the monster. Lydia couldn't imagine a world without Stiles. How is it that someone she barely knew even existed a year prior could become so important to her? It was as she stood next to him as he raised the katana to his abdomen, ready to kill himself to protect his friends, that she knew without a doubt that she was falling in love with him. He was selfless and courageous and everything she wishes she could be. He was perfection in an imperfect world. Lydia was too scared to admit it then. She had seen love fail time and time again. Love wasn't enough to keep her parents together; it wasn't enough to keep Jackson in Beacon Hills; it wasn't enough to save Allison; and as it turned out it wasn't enough to save Aiden either.

Life somehow managed to get in the way of love every time in Lydia's life so she was weary. She never expected the perfect boy to move on so quickly whilst she was still coming to terms with her feelings for him. While she was falling in love with Stiles, he was falling in love with Malia. Maybe he had been in love with Malia since Eichen House. Maybe Lydia was too wrapped up in her own life and her own feelings to realise he was slowly but surely drifting away.

"God, how her life was so much like the book." Lydia thought to herself as she watched Malia walk down the isle. This wedding seemed to be taking forever. Every second was like a knife stabbing into Lydia's heart. The day was no where near over, she still had the reception and a speech she would have to say as maid of honour. She still had to watch Malia toss the bouquet and watch Stiles remove her garter before finally watching them rush off to their honeymoon. It was almost too much to take. But Lydia was nothing if not a good actor. She could fake it with the best of them and that's exactly what she planned to do today. It wasn't Stiles or Malia's fault that she was heartbroken. She had no one to blame but herself for being too indecisive. She loved both of her friends and wanted nothing but the best for them. So this is her sacrifice, just like The Little Mermaids.

The mermaid had a choice, she could either watch the man she loved marry another women he loved, and die of heartbreak, or she could kill him and return to the ocean as a mermaid. Lydia could have easily stood in the way of this marriage. She knows how much she means to both Stiles and Malia. Had she admitted to her feelings years ago and snubbed out their flame before it was truly ignited, she might be the one walking down the isle, about to marry the man of her dreams. Even later on, when they were already in love. If she had told them of her feelings, they would have postponed the wedding, they would have been cautious and try to consider Lydia's feelings at every turn. They were a pack and the bond of the pack would have forced them to look out for her. Lydia couldn't do that to them. Instead she would stand by and silently have her heart shredded to peaces with every loving word uttered.

"Do you, Malia Hale, take Mister Stilinski to be your lawfully wedded husband?" The minister asked.

"I do." Malia replied with a beautiful smile.

"And do you, Mister Stilinski, take Malia Hale, to be your lawfully wedded husband?" The minister asked. Lydia held her breath. She knew what he would say and she knew the smile that would adorn his face as he said it. A part of her, the selfish part, was clinging to a hope that he couldn't go through with it.

"I do." Stiles replied, smiling so tenderly and lovingly at Malia.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride." The minister said.

Lydia clapped and half-heartedly cheered with the rest of the croud. And as Stiles leaned down and pressed his lips against Malia's, Lydia held back tears. Afterall, this was truly it. She could no longer cling to the unrealistic hope that somehow she would get her happy ending with Stiles. All she could hope for was some sort of happy ending, like the Mermaid. Even if she had to wait until the afterlife to receive it. Lydia was a lot of things, she was pessimistic, cynical and realistic; but a little part of her, the part that wanted nothing more than to swim under the ocean as Ariel, was always going to be hopeful. At twenty years old, her life was just beginning. It's sad that it was beginning with heartbreak, but Lydia was strong.

If anyone could survive the heartbreak of constantly losing the ones she loved, (Jackson, Allison, Aiden and now Stiles) it was her.


End file.
